Aftermath

Wiccan forest:

The Wiccan forest, it existed around the capital for an estimated amount 7 centuries, thousands of dead witch's and their vengeful souls were trapped in this forest.

It was a huge and dark forest, not even light could pass through and countless missing cases have been recorded in this area.

The people who travel through this forest are mostly adventurers and most of them do this because they are unable to pay the toll for leaving by the city gates.

The tall twisting grotesque trees, the dense tree leaves that won't allow not even light to pass through and the forest special phenomenon to preserve dead bodies made it an ominous place, avoided by many.

All in all it was a creepy and majestic forest with untold secrets and forgotten stories.

But now?

No such twisting and grotesque trees remained, light shone on the entire forest which was burnt to the ground.

Not even a single tree survived, the previous incident that took place here made the church to wipe the whole forest out.

Amidst this burnt down forest few groups of knights could be seen, they were cleaning up the forest while retrieving the dead bodies.

They all did their duty in silence, not even breathing loudly enough to hear, the inhumanely mutilated bodies infront of them stopped them from talking.

One such knight was Cillian, Cassian's brother,

He looked similar to Cassian but with a more mature look and shorter hair.

...

I tied the rope around the dead body's neck and dragged it towards the pile of bodies we have collected.

The rotten stench of dead bodies were a bit too much for most of our newbies so the seniors had to do all the work.

The way we handle dead bodies may seem a bit extreme but these guys were the cult members who was responsible for the incident that happened in the forest.

Not much is disclosed about it but anything tied to cult is not something you'd want to hear.

Normally I would've done my job and left by now but there was something that made me feel anxious.

My brother used the forest to enter the lands of no return.

Which meant that, he was dragged into the cult activity.

'There are two seperate piles of bodies, one for the heretics and the other for the victims.'

The victim bodies were dealt more delicately, the cult members are surely going to be used as an example by the queen.

The queen had always been like this, acting on impulses and having little care for the people and if it wasn't for the Dukes who were loyal to the kingdom, we would've fell by now.

'Losing someone you love is understandable but that doesn't mean you have to make the life of other's hard due to it.'

I can understand the pain that the queen is going through, when our parents died and when we were forced to beg on the streets, it was a new kind of horror.

I dragged myself to find another corpse,

Maybe the rotten face of my brother would appear on it.

It isn't confirmed if he was dead or not and who is there to confirm it other than me?

Who would waste their time to find out whether a peasant rookie adventurer died or not?

If he is confirmed to be dead,

I would feel..

I don't know what my state of mind would be.

Would it be anger and frustration against the church for not purging this god forsaken forest earlier?

Or would it be resignation and acceptance?

Thinking back to our childhood, he had always worried me, his refusal to kneel down or beg made me wonder how he even survived.

It's true I gave some portion of my earnings to him but it wasn't enough for even half a bread.

Cassian was hard to handle, refusing to eat leftovers that some kind gentleman gave us or refusing to polish shoes for a living, well he was what? 9? He was a child and it was understandable.

Those days of welled up frustration, debating whether to sell him for money or abandon him,

It is something I would never reveal to him.

In his eyes I am his perfect big brother, no flaws and full of love.

He even forgot about the scars I gave him due to me taking my frustration out on him.

At first I felt it was justified.

Then I felt-

Guilt.

So what did I do to make up with him?

I gave up my future, I signed a lifelong contract as a servant to a renowned knight, I gave up my dreams so that my brother could chase his.

But now?

I am uncertain whether that brother of mine still walks the face of earth.

However, judging by his stubborn nature I'm sure he is still out there somewhere and the lack of a corpse makes it even more believable.

And even if he was caught in the schemes of the cult..he would atleast take one out.

I have observed him closelt from our childhood and needless to say he is a disturbed individual.

He is self destructive.

The rope I held in my hands were of poor quality, they were used leftover ropes taken from the construction workers.

The cultists and victims were easy to differentiate, just look for a horn on their head.

The victims are supposed to have mass burial in a single huge grave, it's not due to them being considered unholy because they sacrificed or anything, it's just that the higher ups couldn't care less.

The abandoned village would be refilled with population again but that would only happen if the expedition tomorrow seems it safe.

And I myself am part of the expedition and no I didn't want to go there myself but I was forced to.

Hundreds of colleagues were still repulsed by the corpses but me and Cassian were forced to share a room with a rotting corpse once,

So that doesn't disgust me much.

I found a new corpse and it was from a cultist and like before I tied it to their necks and started dragging him towards the pile.

It might seem cruel but that's how the world is and these weren't any saints.

But I still question their morals, not just the kingdom's but also the morals of these cultists.

What can make them do these inhumane acts?

Money?

Power?

Or wisdom?

And why would it matter to them.

After we aren't gods.

After all even if you can increase your lifespan,

You aren't going to live forever.

So why?

Cillian didn't understand them and he felt like he never would.

Some things are better to be left out in the dark.

Or else it would lead to unwanted emotions and those emotions will lead to unwanted actions.

These actions would have their own consequences.

The life of a knight's squire is quite boring,

In my honest opinion I was supposed to join the church of stars but due to Cassian's repulsive attitude towards them, I gave that up.

Everything he did in his boring life was for Cassian and he never really thought about himself.

The time begging on the streets, maybe those times were the only moments he thought for himself and not for others.

What changed him?

Guilt? Or affection?

Does he was redemption?

A redemption at the cost of his ambitions?

Yes.

Unlike Cassian, Cillian is willing to abandon his ambitions without selfishness.

These brothers have quite the opposite mentality and yet they're the same.

The younger brother Cassian lives and longs for an interesting life and legacy.

Whereas the older brother gave up everything for his brother.

If you take a look at Cillian's life you would call it mediocre at best.

Cillian thinks the same way too but the need for redemption pushes him forward.

The same way the obligation for legacy pushed Cassian forward too.

Like I said they are different yet similar.

Cassian managed to escape his obligation and turned it into curiosity together with the pursuit of legacy.

But would Cillian be able to escape his shackles of redemption?

Would he be able to find a purpose other than being a support to Cassian?